Witness Testifies in Tourist Slaying Case

Published 7:00 pm, Thursday, April 3, 2003

Three years before two Ocean City tourists were killed and dismembered, one of the accused killers described his preferred way of disposing of a body, a witness testified Friday.

Michael McInnis testified that he and Benjamin Sifrit, both Navy SEALs at the time, were talking in a bar in 1999 about how to dispose of a body. Sifrit allegedly said he would cut off the limbs and head, wrap them in bags and put them in different trash bins to avoid detection.

Prosecutors claim Sifrit's words were a chilling prequel to the May 26 murders of Martha Crutchley, 51, and Joshua Ford, 32, in an Ocean City condominium.

Sifrit's attorneys say the defendant's words were no more than idle conversation, two SEALs "talking trash" over beers.

Sifrit, 25, of Altoona, Pa., faces first-degree murder, assault and other charges. He is accused of shooting the Fairfax, Va., tourists in a bathroom, cutting them into pieces, putting them in bags and dumping the bags in trash bins. Only portions of the bodies were found in a Delaware dump a week after the couple's deaths.

Police say they arrested Sifrit and his wife, Erika, May 31 after a break-in at a restaurant. When police searched their vehicle, they found the victims' IDs.

Authorities say Benjamin Sifrit killed Crutchley and Ford after his wife accused them of stealing her purse while the couples partied at the Sifrits' condo.

Benjamin Sifrit's attorneys say it was Erika Sifrit who pulled the trigger. They have tried to paint her as unstable and out of control. Erika Sifrit, 25, is scheduled to be tried June 2.

Prosecutors wrapped up their case Friday with the testimony of McInnis, who also said a conversation about disposing of bodies is not unusual for SEALs, a force trained to kill and destroy.

"That is the type of conversation we have," McInnis said.

McInnis also said he didn't want to testify against Sifrit and said police misunderstood the nature of the barroom talk.

The case was moved to Montgomery County because of pretrial publicity.